Mislabeling of imports as domestic, wild-caught shrimp poses a substantial threat to the livelihood of those in the domestic shrimp industry. Mislabeling defrauds consumers from receiving a premium product, while at the same time depresses prices paid to shrimpers for their catch by artificially and falsely increasing the supply of U.S. wild-caught shrimp.
The Southern Shrimp Alliance welcomes and applauds the extensive efforts of NOAA Law Enforcement to address shrimp mislabeling. NOAA Law Enforcement has not only confirmed its commitment to tackling seafood fraud, the agency has backed up its words with concrete action. As just one example, NOAA Law Enforcement recently issued a “Seized Mexican Shrimp Bid Package” regarding 35,000 lbs. of Mexican brown shrimp seized by the agency on October 31, 2012. Although the investigation relating to the seizure is ongoing and the circumstances regarding the seizure are not yet public, the notice is another specific demonstration of the agency’s attempts to rein in seafood fraud.
Anyone with information pertaining to seafood fraud – whether shrimp mislabeling or otherwise – is encouraged to contact NOAA Law Enforcement’s working group on seafood fraud at safe.seafood@noaa.gov or at the toll-free hotline 1-800-853-1964.
Read NOAA Law Enforcement’s commitment to tackling seafood fraud: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/stories/2012/11/11_15_12seafood_fraud_enforcement.html
Read NOAA Law Enforcement’s recent notice relating to “Seized Mexican Shrimp Bid Package”: https://shrimpalliance.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Seized-Mexican-Shrimp-Bid-Package.pdf